EMTs accused of ignoring dying pregnant woman Eutisha Rennix back on job after 30-day suspensionFDNY EMT Jason Green, 32, and Melisa Jackson, 23, returned to work after a 30-day suspension.

Two EMTs accused of ignoring a dying pregnant woman because they were on a break returned to work Thursday proclaiming their innocence.

Smiling and laughing, Jason Green and Melisa Jackson reported to FDNY headquarters at the end of their 30-day suspension for abandoning Au Bon Pain worker Eutisha Rennix.

"I'm relieved I still have a job," said Green as he hugged a co-worker and playfully swatted another on the shoulder outside Metrotech in downtown Brooklyn.

"This whole thing's been stressful," said Green. "I'm just hanging in there."

The dispatchers, who still face a criminal probe, were grabbing a bagel at a nearby Au Bon Pain when a worker told them 25-year-old Rennix was having trouble breathing. Rennix, who was six months pregnant, had collapsed and was in the back of the store.

Jackson called a fellow dispatcher to report the incident, but witnesses said she and Green did not try to help Rennix themselves. The mom and her premature baby died hours later.

Green, 32, and Jackson, 23, denied they left the coffee shop and insisted they did all they could to help.

"Hopefully, the truth will be unveiled, and me and Melisa will have our names cleared," said Green.

The Department of Investigation and the Brooklyn district attorney's office are probing the incident. The Fire Department has yet to interview the EMTs, but Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano said he could not comprehend a member of the FDNY not stopping to help.

"We help, that's what we do - no matter what," Cassano said. "When you raise your right hand and take that oath, that's what you're pledging to do."

Rennix's co-workers were outraged that the pair was allowed to return to work.

"A girl is dead. I think they should still be off," said Tarsheen Brown, 29. "I asked them for help and they just looked at me like I was stupid."

Regional EMS Council of NYC

Ambulance Committee meeting

475 Riverside Drive
Orthodox Room- Ground Floor
New York New York 10115
Date:1/26/2010
Time:5:00 PM

Contact Information:
Organization:Regional EMS Council of NYC
Name:Marie Diglio
Phone Number:212-870-2301
Email Address:mcdiglio@nycremsco.org

12-year-old boy found slasheda 12-year-old boy was found slashed Saturday night in Queens.

Investigators say the boy was found just before 10 p.m. where the Jackie Robinson Parkway intersects with Cypress Hill Street.

He had several slash wounds.He was treated & trasported by NYC EMS to a Queens hospital

,where he is said to be in stable condition

DA probes EMTs in mom's death



Two EMTs accused of callously refusing to help a dying, pregnant mom during their coffee break became the target of a criminal probe by the Brooklyn DA's Office yesterday -- as the FDNY moved to fire them.

Prosecutors met to determine whether EMTs Jason Green, 32, and Melisa Jackson, 23 -- who sources said are romantically involved -- had a legal duty to aid Eutisha Rennix, 25.

The criminal investigation began as the Fire Department suspended Green and Jackson without pay for allegedly ignoring the frantic pleas of Rennix's co-workers to help her after she suffered a seizure Dec. 9 at the Au Bon Pain shop in 1 Metrotech Center in Brooklyn. That's the site of FDNY headquarters and where the pair work as dispatchers.
TRAGIC: Eutisha Rennix, here with twin brother Eudane, died after collapsing in a Brooklyn cafe.
TRAGIC: Eutisha Rennix, here with twin brother Eudane, died after collapsing in a Brooklyn cafe.

Rennix, who had a 3-year-old son, died at Long Island College Hospital after being transported there by a paramedic crew. Her premature baby was delivered at the hospital but died two hours later.

Sources said the FDNY wants to boot Green, a six-year veteran, and Jackson, who has four years with the department, over the debacle, a story that The Post broke Sunday.

But two are fighting back, unleashing a union rep to defend them yesterday.

"These are people that are not in the field," EMS union exec Jeff Samerson said. "They have not had patient contact in years."

Still, even Samerson had to concede, "they could have acted better."

Fire Department officials have already referred the case to the state Health Department, which could revoke the EMTs' certification.

The shocking scandal, which has infuriated Mayor Bloomberg, FDNY brass and the public, even led the union chief to call for punishment for the pair if they failed their duty.

"The entire rank-and-file is mortified by these allegations," said Pat Bahnken, president of Emergency Medical Services Union Local 2507.

Bloomberg raged at the two EMTs for a second day, saying, "There's no excuse whatsoever, as far as I can tell."

FDNY investigators have obtained a videotape from the Au Bon Pain on the day of the incident, department sources said.

Employees said they approached Green and Jackson for help for Rennix.

Shop worker Tareen Brown, 29, said the EMTs initially told workers that "if they reacted, they could get in trouble. They said they weren't allowed to touch her unless a call was made to 911 first."

His co-worker, Lourdes Colon, 19, said, "They said they couldn't do anything. They said they were trainees. They showed no sympathy at all."

Brown said that after Jackson and Green did not go to help Rennix, he went outside where there was a group of about 10 FDNY employees, and told them, "Somebody has fallen out. There's an emergency."

"They said, 'What do you want us to do? Call 911.' "

Jackson actually did call 911 from the Au Bon Pain, according to the union's Samerson.

But sources said Jackson told the dispatcher that Rennix had difficulty breathing -- despite the fact that the EMT never physically examined the stricken woman -- and left before the LICH crew arrived. Based on the information Jackson provided, the call was initially not treated as a critical emergency.

EMTs who refused to help dying pregnant mother

A furious Mayor Bloomberg yesterday blasted two EMTs who allegedly refused to help a dying, pregnant mom because they were on break at a Brooklyn coffee shop.

"It was unconscionable, [an] outrage, pick some adjectives and stick it in," the fuming mayor said at a news conference a day after The Post broke the scandal involving tragic mom Eutisha Revee Rennix, 25."The Fire Department, including EMS, is responsible for life-saving, and their first responsibility is to do that," the mayor said. "But even if they weren't part of the Fire Department sworn to protect all of us, just normal human beings, drop your coffee and go help somebody if they're dying. C'mon."

The two EMTs -- identified for The Post as Melisa Jackson and Jason Green -- were buying bagels in the Au Bon Pain at the Metrotech Center in Downtown Brooklyn on Dec. 9 when Rennix collapsed there -- and they allegedly ignored her.

Her toddler son has been crying, "Where's Mommy?" since her death, said her stunned and grieving family. Rennix's mother, Cynthia, angrily added that the FDNY hasn't offered one word of explanation -- or sympathy -- for the fiasco.

"It's disgusting," Cynthia Rennix said.

"We've heard nothing from the city. No one has called to apologize or explain. Her [3-year-old] son, Jahleel, senses what is going on . . . He keeps asking, 'Where's Mommy?' "

Witnesses have said the two EMTs -- trained medics working as dispatchers at FDNY headquarters at Metrotech -- were more interested in getting to their breakfast than helping the dying woman amid the panicked screams of her fellow workers.

Their cold advice: "Call 911," the witnesses said.

They then allegedly left the cafe before help arrived.

Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta yesterday reiterated that the matter "is under investigation."

A union official said EMT members are not contractually entitled to a responsibility-free meal period; members on duty and in uniform have an obligation to act in an emergency, and leaving a patient is "an act of abandonment," he said.

Frantic employees who were waiting for help after calling 911 had approached the medics standing in line at around 9 a.m. and asked for help for Rennix, who was apparently suffering a seizure and struggling to breathe. The EMTs, who were not identified, allegedly blew off the workers.

At 9:13 a.m., two other EMTs, William Martinez and Robert Suarez, were dispatched from Long Island College Hospital and arrived at 9:24 a.m. to what they believed was a noncritical call.

But before they arrived, by 9:22 a.m., Rennix's condition had dramatically worsened, and 911 was again called about a critical situation -- triggering the dispatch of a FDNY paramedic crew, which arrived at 9:28 a.m.

Rennix was already in cardiac arrest.

She was rushed to LICH and declared dead at 10:17 a.m. Her baby girl was delivered and died 2 hours and 10 minutes later.

The source said that when the FDNY paramedics jumped into the chaotic scene, the LICH crew was running back to their ambulance to get a defibrillator, which they had left in the vehicle.

The family is considering suing over the debacle.

Additional reporting by Edmund DeMarche and Zoey Russo

cj.sullivan@nypost.com

A furious Mayor Bloomberg yesterday blasted two EMTs who allegedly refused to help a dying, pregnant mom because they were on break at a Brooklyn coffee shop.

"It was unconscionable, [an] outrage, pick some adjectives and stick it in," the fuming mayor said at a news conference a day after The Post broke the scandal involving tragic mom Eutisha Revee Rennix, 25.

"The Fire Department, including EMS, is responsible for life-saving, and their first responsibility is to do that," the mayor said. "But even if they weren't part of the Fire Department sworn to protect all of us, just normal human beings, drop your coffee and go help somebody if they're dying. C'mon."
SENSELESS: Eutisha Rennix (above) died of cardiac arrest at a Brooklyn Au Bon Pain after two EMTs allegedly refused to help because they were on break.
Helayne Seidman
SENSELESS: Eutisha Rennix (above) died of cardiac arrest at a Brooklyn Au Bon Pain after two EMTs allegedly refused to help because they were on break.

The two EMTs -- identified for The Post as Melisa Jackson and Jason Green -- were buying bagels in the Au Bon Pain at the Metrotech Center in Downtown Brooklyn on Dec. 9 when Rennix collapsed there -- and they allegedly ignored her.

Her toddler son has been crying, "Where's Mommy?" since her death, said her stunned and grieving family. Rennix's mother, Cynthia, angrily added that the FDNY hasn't offered one word of explanation -- or sympathy -- for the fiasco.

"It's disgusting," Cynthia Rennix said.

"We've heard nothing from the city. No one has called to apologize or explain. Her [3-year-old] son, Jahleel, senses what is going on . . . He keeps asking, 'Where's Mommy?' "

Witnesses have said the two EMTs -- trained medics working as dispatchers at FDNY headquarters at Metrotech -- were more interested in getting to their breakfast than helping the dying woman amid the panicked screams of her fellow workers.

Their cold advice: "Call 911," the witnesses said.

They then allegedly left the cafe before help arrived.

Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta yesterday reiterated that the matter "is under investigation."

A union official said EMT members are not contractually entitled to a responsibility-free meal period; members on duty and in uniform have an obligation to act in an emergency, and leaving a patient is "an act of abandonment," he said.

Frantic employees who were waiting for help after calling 911 had approached the medics standing in line at around 9 a.m. and asked for help for Rennix, who was apparently suffering a seizure and struggling to breathe. The EMTs, who were not identified, allegedly blew off the workers.

At 9:13 a.m., two other EMTs, William Martinez and Robert Suarez, were dispatched from Long Island College Hospital and arrived at 9:24 a.m. to what they believed was a noncritical call.

But before they arrived, by 9:22 a.m., Rennix's condition had dramatically worsened, and 911 was again called about a critical situation -- triggering the dispatch of a FDNY paramedic crew, which arrived at 9:28 a.m.

Rennix was already in cardiac arrest.

She was rushed to LICH and declared dead at 10:17 a.m. Her baby girl was delivered and died 2 hours and 10 minutes later.

The source said that when the FDNY paramedics jumped into the chaotic scene, the LICH crew was running back to their ambulance to get a defibrillator, which they had left in the vehicle.

The family is considering suing over the debacle.

Why we have jobs

First Woman To Retire From Philharmonic Set To Pursue Life As EMT
Nancy Donaruma's life dream to be a member of the New York Philharmonic began at age eight and while her days at the New York Philharmonic may be over, she's not about to kick back on a rocking chair on the front porch anytime soon.VIDEO

High School Student Shot Outside Bronx School

Police are investigating after a Bronx high school student was shot near his school Monday afternoon.

Investigators say the 17-year-old senior left Bronx Regional High School in Morrisania for lunch around 12:30 p.m. when he was shot in the shoulder by a man wearing a ski mask

The teen was treated by FDNY EMS then taken to Lincoln Hospital where he is expected to recover.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Former EMT Arrested For Posting Crime Scene Photo OnlineThe family of a Staten Island woman killed earlier this year is suing Facebook over photos posted from the crime scene.The victim's mother, Martha Wimmer, wants Facebook to enact a better screening process for photos. She also says she doesn't want her daughter to be remembered for the photos.

Former EMT Mark Musarella is accused of taking a cell phone picture of the victim's body and posting it on his Facebook page. He was fired after the incident and pleaded not guilty to charges of official misconduct.

"This EMS had no right to take a picture of my daughter being strangled and put it on the Internet for all the morons to look at," said Wimmer.

"It was the tears of Marty on the day we met that made me be stupid enough to be involved in this case because you have to be stupid to take on a cause."

A spokeswoman for Facebook could not comment on pending litigation, but said it has always been their policy to remove such photos as soon as they are reported.

Musarella, a retired NYPD detective, was fired from his job at Richmond University Medical Center. He faces up to a year in prison.

National Preparedness Month with the launch of the Ready New York City CampaignHomeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano joined officials from the Office of Emergency Services today to kick off National Preparedness Month with the launch of the Ready New York City Campaign.

The campaign urges New Yorkers to come up with a plan and prepare emergency kits in case of a disaster or terrorist attack.

"There are simple items to go inside: a little bit of cash, important papers, medications, an extra pair of eyeglasses, the things that if you run out in your pajamas, you wish you had in those minutes after a disaster," said Terry Bischoff, chief executive officer of the American Red Cross of Greater New York.

"I think the people of New York City can be confident that the emergency planning for any type of scenario, but particularly a terrorist scenario, is as robust here as any place I've seen in the country," said Napolitano.

Officials say 40 percent of New Yorkers feel they are not prepared for an emergency.

In a twisted act of revenge a Queens woman pours boiling water on cheating husband's crotchEnraged at being two-timed, a Queens woman poured boiling water on her unfaithful husband's groin as he slept Monday, police said.In a twisted act of revenge, Oyinda Ojofeitimi, 67, a registered nurse, carried out the crotch-scalding attack to ensure her spouse stopped cheating, cops said.

"She was hurt and angry that after all this time married, he was stepping out on her," a police source said. "She wanted to shut down that possibility forever because he had treated her with such contempt."

The painful wakeup call left Emmanuel Ojofeitimi, also a nurse, screaming in the bedroom of the couple's home on Milburn St. in Springfield Gardens.

"I could hear it through the ceiling," said a mother of two, who rents an upstairs apartment in the feuding couple's house. "It was a physical altercation. It was the woman screaming and him in the background."

"They took him out on a stretcher," said another neighbor, Felix Smith.

The woman immediately regretted the assault and called 911, cops said. She was treating him with cold compresses when paramedics arrived. Her husband, 67, suffered second- and third-degree burns from his knees to his abdomen, police said. He was being treated at the burn unit at Nassau University Medical Center.

Oyinda Ojofeitimi told cops she recently had learned her husband of 20 years had been unfaithful.

Fed up and furious, she awoke at 6 a.m. and boiled a pot of water on her stove, cops said. As her husband slept, she poured the pot on his privates, cops said.

Arrested on assault charges, the betrayed wife, an immigrant of Grenada, was awaiting arraignment Monday night.

A construction worker has been hospitalized after falling down an elevator shaft in Manhattan this morning.Fire officials say the man fell from the first floor of a Hells Kitchen building into the elevator pit. They say the doors opened, but the elevator was not there.The man fell about 25 to 30 feet.Saint Vincent paramedics treated and transported the construction worker to Saint Vincent's Hospital.

FDNY rescues Brooklyn child's head from fence jam with Jaws of LifeFirefighters receive state-of-the-art training to battle raging infernos, dangerous building collapses and even terrifying terrorist attacks.

But sometimes it's just as rewarding to rescue a 2-year-old Brooklyn boy who got his head wedged in a metal park fence.

Precocious toddler Leon Stanley's unexpected adventure began just after 11:30 a.m. when he and his father went for a walk near their Red Hook home.

Enjoying the sunshine, the pair strolled along Van Brunt St. toward Mother Cabrini Park. Stanley, 38, turned his head for a moment and suddenly heard his son cry out.

"It all happened so fast," the dad said.

"We were just walking in the park, and the next thing you know, there he was, crying, his head stuck."

Leon had crouched in front of the fence and placed his head in the 8-inch gap between its bars, his father said.

Not realizing the gap narrowed near the top, the boy quickly stood up, jamming his head.

"He was a little excited, a little upset," said his father, a carpenter. "He tried to move but was stuck."

As Stanley tried to keep Leon calm, a woman rushed over and called 911. Engine 202 responded minutes later.

24 hour period in NYC EMS

Five people were stabbed in two separate incidents outside the same New York City nightclub early Saturday morning.The three men and two women were stabbed in front of the Deco Lounge St Vincent paramedics and EMT's treated the victims then took them to nearby St. Vincent's Hospital. All are expected to survive.New York City Police arrested 21-year-old Mario Olmedo on charges of assault and criminal possession of a weapon in relation to stabbing a 23-year-old man in the head and a 21-year-old woman in the neck, the New York Daily News reported.

Dumb NYC Paramedic abandoned a 5-year-old boy at a Bronx hospital

An impatient Paramedic was arrested Friday for abandoning a 5-year-old boy at a Bronx hospital on New Year's Eve because he didn't want to wait for the paperwork, officials said.Then to top it off jackass forged the nurses signature

Days after announcing cuts to the Fire Department that include the elimination of 30 ambulance tours this summer, the head of the EMS Union is speaking out and warning that it could cost lives. NY1's Amanda Farinacci filed the following report.
Round the clock day and night, about 250 ambulances operated by the fire department are on duty all over the city, ready to respond to all kinds of medical emergencies.In an internal memo obtained by NY1 last week, the department plans to eliminate 30 of those ambulance tours, effective July 1, to save money. Now, the president of the union that staffs those ambulances warns that's a bad idea.

"When you reduce the number of ambulances available, you drive up the response time, and somebody will die. Somebody's gonna die," said EMS Union President Patrick Bahnken.

Bahnken says this is the worst possible time to cut back since EMS call volume goes up significantly during economic downturns -- a result of people losing their jobs and their health insurance which leads to people not being able to afford medications. He also says anger and frustration lead to spikes in violence that result in more ambulance calls.

The FDNY's own statistics show EMS responded to an all-time high of 1.2 million 911 calls in 2008. That's 100,000 more than in 2003, with the number of calls increasing every year since then.

At any given time, about 20 percent of EMS tours are staffed by personnel working overtime, which the department is hoping to eliminate. The department and the union agree the tours that are cut will likely be picked up by private ambulance companies, although union leaders say that's not a real solution.

"It's a knee-jerk response that ignores a lot of other problems that are created by it. Hospital-based ambulances bring patients back to the hospitals they work for," said Bahnken.

Bahnken says private ambulances like Transcare hurt the bottom line for the city's public hospitals, which lose out on patients and Medicaid and Medicare revenues. He says reducing ambulance tours could have a detrimental impact on public safety.

"I shudder to think that we go back to the 1986, 1987 period when people with major medical emergencies were waiting for 10 minutes or better for an ambulance," said Bahnken.

The FDNY insists the budget cuts have not been finalized and says it plans to meet with the EMS union February 17 to discuss the budget.

The latest victims of the tanking economy.The doors of two Queens hospitals were boarded up Sunday with graffiti-scarred wood planks, the latest victims of the tanking economy.
The message, say critics: Don't get sick in Queens.
"You already have overburdened hospitals," said Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Queens). "Good luck trying to get a loved one to emergency care."
Ambulances stood at the ready outside St. John's Queens Hospital in Elmhurst and Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica in case patients showed up unaware the hospitals were closed.
They shut their doors late Saturday night after budget woes sent them into bankruptcy. Some 3,000 workers lost their jobs at the facilities.
"It's a real failure of government to set priorities and manage them properly," Gioia said. "They throw up their hands when the money runs out and say, 'What can we do?' That's not good enough."
Mayor Bloomberg called the closures "sad" and said the city has to do more with less in these tough economic times.
"Having said that, there is no reason for us to ... walk away from our basic functions of government," he said, adding that the Fire Department will dispatch more ambulances in Queens and for other hospitals to fill the void.
Carlos Quiles, a nurse who lost his job at St. John's, said the next best option for care in Queens is Elmhurst Hospital Center, which is already filled to capacity.
"I can't understand the wisdom behind closing the hospitals," he said. "The politicians clearly have no understanding of the ramifications."
Quiles is worried about finding a new job in a tough economy.
"I just have to leave it all in the hands of God," he said.

All I can say is it was a long day

A US Airways plane crashed into the frigid Hudson River on Thursday afternoon after striking a bird that disabled two engines, sending 150 on board scrambling onto rescue boats, authorities say. No deaths or serious injuries were immediately reported.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown says the US Airways Flight 1549 had just taken off from LaGuardia Airport enroute to Charlotte, N.C., when the crash occurred in the river near 48th Street in midtown Manhattan.

Brown says the plane, an Airbus 320, appears to have hit one or more birds.

A law enforcement official said that authorities are not aware of any deaths and that the passengers do not appear to be seriously injured. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the rescue was still under way.

The plane was submerged in the icy waters up to the windows. Rescue crews had opened the door and were pulling passengers in yellow life vests from the plane. Several boats surrounded the plane, which appeared to be slowly sinking.

Government officials do not believe the crash is related to terrorism.

"There is no information at this time to indicate that this is a security-related incident," Homeland Security spokeswoman Laura Keehner said. "We continue to closely monitor the situation which at present is focused on search and rescue."

Witnesses said the plane's pilot appeared to guide the plane down.

"I see a commercial airliner coming down, looking like it's landing right in the water," said Bob Read, who saw it from his office at the television newsmagazine "Inside Edition."

"This looked like a controlled descent."

New York City EMT's and Paramedics responded to the crash.